Pirates Host American To Begin 2010-11 Season
November 11, 2010 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 11, 2010
East Carolina Women's Basketball Gameday Central
GREENVILLE, N.C. - Heather Macy makes her official debut as East Carolina women's basketball head coach Friday as the Pirates play host to American University in both teams' season opener at Minges Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. and the contest is the first in a doubleheader with the men's squad as it begins regular season play against Erskine.
ECU captured a 70-65 win over the Eagles early last season at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C. Kim Gay enjoyed a double-double performance, scoring 18 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Kelly Smith hit a jumper with 35 seconds left to break a 65-65 deadlock before Crystal Wilson tallied two steals in the final ticks to seal the victory.
The Pirates enjoyed a highly successful season a year ago, winning a program single-season second-best 23 games and reaching the second round of the WNIT before falling to 2006 national champion Maryland. ECU also set new yearly standards in points (2,430), three-point field goals (187) and assists (542).
Macy is no stranger to up-tempo, high-scoring offense. For two of the past three seasons, her Francis Marion teams led the nation in points per game. She is no stranger to a pressing and suffocating style of defense, however, as the Patriots also led the country in steals. Macy's mindset should prove beneficial to an East Carolina team that is used to scoring in bunches, sharing the ball and getting after it on defense and the boards.
On the national scene, the Pirates ranked among the nation's elite in five statistical categories - three-point field goal percentage (12th), field goal percentage (14th), assists per game (19th), scoring offense (37th) and rebound margin (42nd). Individually, now junior Ashley Clarke was named to the All-C-USA Second and All-Defensive Teams while pacing ECU in scoring, assists and steals. She led the league in assists per game and ranked 24th nationally.
Also returning for the Pirates are seniors Kim Gay and Allison Spivey. Gay was selected as the 2009-10 ECU MVP as she was tops on the squad in rebounding, free throw percentage and third in scoring. The forward had a career day at Memphis Feb. 27, setting career highs in points (26), rebounds (12) and three-point field goals made (four). She scored in double figures 16 times while leading East Carolina in rebounding 13 times. Meanwhile, Spivey started all 34 contests and ended up first on the team in three-point field goals and three-point field goal percentage. She also set the ECU single-season record with 63 three-pointers and helped the Pirates rank 12th in the nation in three-point percentage. East Carolina should get a boost with the comeback of junior guard Crystal Wilson, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in the second half of the road contest at SMU Jan. 23. Before her setback, she was scoring 9.6 points per game while shooting 55 percent from the field, 43 percent from beyond the arc and 75 percent at the free throw line. Wilson had also grabbed 70 rebounds and 37 steals.
Other upperclassman returnees include senior guard Kelly Smith and junior forward Chareya Smith. The former racked up 56 three-point field goals, the fourth-most in a single season in program history, and was fifth on the team in scoring. Chareya Smith, named the squad's most improved player at the end of the season awards banquet, played in all 34 contests and made 12 starts. She matched Wilson's field goal percentage mark and scored in double figures 10 times. The junior was also instrumental in the road victory at Drexel in the first round of the WNIT, scoring a career-high 14 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the floor to go along with seven rebounds.
A strong sophomore class, which features four guards and a forward, will complement the upperclassman core as it received valuable game experience as last season wore on. Guard Celeste Stewart was awarded playing time in every game and made two starts. She was the top-scoring rookie for ECU with an average of 3.9 points per contest and was third on the squad with 52 assists against 38 turnovers. Additionally, guard Shala Hodges scored a career-best 17 points to lead the Pirates to a 102-64 win over Southern Miss in the first round of the C-USA Tournament as East Carolina broke the single-game tourney scoring record. Forward Ariana Jackson and guard Elaine Morgan will also provide valuable minutes as they combined to play 542 last season.
A pair of talented freshmen, Alana Beroth and Katie Paschal, join the ranks to round out the roster as both were participants in the 2010 North Carolina East-West All-Star Game. Paschal also ended her prep career as the second-leading scorer in North Carolina high school history, dropping in 3,160 points.
THE SERIES: AMERICAN
East Carolina and American meet Friday for the 40th time in a series that dates back to 1984. The Pirates hold a 27-12 advantage and have won five of the last six meetings. Three of those contests occurred in Minges Coliseum as ECU won all three. The Pirates were a charter member of the Colonial Athletic Association and all but three of the meetings with the Eagles have occurred as a league contest. Friday's affair is the fifth non-conference tilt in series history.
EAST CAROLINA AGAINST THE PATRIOT LEAGUE East Carolina holds an all-time mark of 28-12 (.700) against current members of the Patriot League. The Pirates have faced off against American (27-12) and Lafayette (1-0), but have never taken on Army, Bucknell, Colgate, Holy Cross, Lehigh or Navy.
MACY AGAINST AMERICAN
Macy has only seen American on the opposing sideline once in her coaching career, when she was an assistant at Maryland-Baltimore County. The Terriers defeated the Eagles 67-49 Dec. 11 of that season. Macy did not cross paths with American when she was head coach at Pfeiffer and Francis Marion or an assistant at High Point, Catawba and Lenoir Rhyne.
CORKERY AGAINST EAST CAROLINA
The Pirates' 70-65 victory in Washington, D.C. last season serves as the only time Corkey has coached against East Carolina.
CONFERENCE USA: THE 10TH SEASON
East Carolina is in its 10th year as a basketball member of C-USA. Starting in 2001, the Pirates became eligible to compete for the league title after contributing 17 years as a constituent of the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA). During the past nine seasons, ECU has made eight appearances in the C-USA Tournament and three years ago, finished third in the regular season standings, its highest ranking since joining the conference. The Pirates also notched their first league tournament title with 79-70 triumph over Rice in the 2007 championship game at the Reynolds Center in Tulsa, Okla.
2011 CONFERENCE USA CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2011 edition of the league tournament is scheduled for March 9-12 at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas. All 12 conference squads will compete in the event, with the winner taking the league's automatic bid to the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Last season, No. 1 seed Tulane swept through UCF, East Carolina and UAB to claim the title. The Green Wave later fell to No. 5 seed Georgia at Arizona State to end the year.
WINNING TALK
The Pirates won 23 games in 2009-10, marking the second-most wins in a single season in program history. Additionally, ECU produced its second-highest victory total in their nine seasons in Conference USA with nine league triumphs.
CONFERENCE USA CONGRATULATIONS
The Pirates had a player earn All-Conference USA accolades for the ninth-straight year in 2009-10. Sophomore Ashley Clarke was named to the Second Team and All-Defensive Team after leading the league in assists per game (5.3) and ranking fourth in steals (71).
HOME IS WHERE THE WINS ARE
ECU protected its home court last season, racking up a 12-2 record at Minges Coliseum for the second consecutive year. That mark matched the second-most single-season wins in school history and was the most since 2000-01. The Pirates are 24-4 at home the last two campaigns and have racked up a Conference USA ledger of 13-3. East Carolina also set a new record of consecutive wins to start a home season, taking its first 12, capped off by a 74-64 victory over UTEP.
ON THEIR WAY TO SEE THE PIRATES PLAY
It could be said that one reason for East Carolina's sparkling home record was the fan support given by the Greenville and surrounding communities. The Pirates welcomed 27,092 fans to Minges Coliseum last season, an average of 1,935 per contest. That figure led Conference USA and was 76th nationally among Division I schools.
NEW STANDARDS
The Pirates ended up running one of the most prolific offenses in the nation last season. In addition to ranking 19th in assists per game and 37th in scoring offense, East Carolina put up new single-season records in points scored (2,430), three-point field goals made (187) and assists (542). It was not all good news however, as the squad also set record marks in personal fouls and turnovers. With head coach Heather Macy's style of play, the offense has the potential to be even more effective as her teams have routinely led the nation in scoring offense and steals.
UP NEXT FOR THE PIRATES
ECU has a quick turnaround after Friday's opener, traveling to Cullowhee Sunday for a contest at Western Carolina. The Pirates defeated the Catamounts in Greenville last season 70-59. WCU leads the series between the schools 9-8.
NOTING AMERICAN
